New Delhi: The Delhi Police have caught a man from Himachal Pradesh for swindling gullible men on adult chat groups by posing as a woman.
The 33-year-old Deepak Saini was arrested from Mohali on 7 June following a raid.
Police said the man from Mandi was reported by someone who had paid him Rs 12.7 lakh as “fees” for adult chat on Telegram. An addict of online gaming and adult chatting, Saini took on the persona of ‘Shruti Sharma’ to engage men, a police officer said.
His fraud got blown after the police received a complaint in Shahdara which triggered a case under Sections 419/420 (punishment for cheating done by impersonation/ punishment for cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said: “The complainant reported he received a message from ‘Shruti Sharma’ and began chatting on Telegram. Initially, he transferred some amount for the chat ‘services’ but the accused kept him hooked emotionally and managed to extract a total of Rs 12.7 lakh. The complainant believed he was chatting with a woman.”
All this happened within two and a half months, the police said.
To identify the fraudster, a police team collected relevant information, analysed bank transactions and ran a mobile surveillance. Based on this information, they conducted a raid on 7 June, resulting in Saini’s interrogation.
During questioning, Saini allegedly disclosed that he worked in a pharmaceutical company but had been unemployed for two years.
“Jobless, Saini relied on his wife’s salary for a livelihood. An addict of adult chatting and gambling on platforms like Dream11 and Pari-Match, Saini joined various adult groups on Telegram,” the DCP said.
In March, he started texting the complainant under the name ‘Shruti Sharma’. The police have seized a mobile phone, ATM cards and a bank passbook from Saini’s possession.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Cyber watchdog blocks 1,000+ Skype IDs used by cross-border scammers impersonating as govt officials